SOUTH FAYETTE 44, CRANBERRY 42

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March 12, 2010 - PIAA Class AA Girls' First Round

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – When it mattered the most for the South Fayette girls’ basketball team Lizzy King stepped to the forefront.

First King hit the go-ahead layup with nine second left and then she blocked a Hannah Heeter jumper in the lane with five second left to the Lions to a 44-42 win over District 9 championship Cranberry in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs Friday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

Cranberry (22-4) had tied the game at 42 on two Kylie Mason free throws with 28 seconds left, and the Berries had chance to take the lead when Mason stole the ball from South Fayette’s Erika Ford with 21 seconds to play. But Heeter had layup in the lane blocked by Bailey Seiner with 17 seconds left setting up King’s go-ahead layup. King was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.

South Fayette (18-7) led by five, 42-37, on a 3-pointer by Taylor Uram with 4:05 to play.

But Cranberry rallied getting to within three on a Heeter layup, and then Lauren Hogue hit one of two free throws with 1:42 to play to cut the deficit to 42-40. Mason then came up with a steal and was fouled before hitting the game-tying free throws.   

South Fayette used a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter to erase a 35-30 deficit and take a 37-35 lead into the final eight minutes. The Lions then used a 5-0 run in the fourth quarter to take the 42-37 lead.

Cranberry led 10-9 late in the first quarter before the Lions used a 7-0 run at the end of the quarter to take a 16-10 lead. South Fayette still led 21-16 three minutes into the second quarter before Cranberry ended the half with an 8-0 run to take a 24-21 halftime lead.

King led South Fayette with 15 points, four assists and four steals. Ford added 10 points, five rebounds, three helpers and three steals with Uram chipping in nine points on 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

Heeter had another double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds to lead Cranberry. She added three assists. Sarah Lutz chipped in with nine points, five rebounds and three steals, while Hogue added eight points, nine rebounds and three steals off the bench.

NOTES – Cranberry shot 34.9 percent (15 of 43) from the field while South Fayette was 17 of 38 (44.7 percent) including 60 percent (9 of 15) in the second half … Cranberry turned the ball over 22 times leading to 15 Lion points while South Fayette had 20 giveaways leading to 16 Berry points … The game was tied three times with the lead changing hands five times … South Fayette will now face Southern Huntingdon in the second round. Southern Huntingdon beat Beaver 63-47 … Heeter finished the season averaging 20.3 points per game while scoring 528 points. She ended with 1,350 career points, the fourth-leading scorer in school history.

SOUTH FAYETTE 44, CRANBERRY 42

Score by Quarters

South Fayette 16 5 16 7 – 44

Cranberry 10 14 11 7 – 42

South Fayette – 44

Taylor Uram 3-8 0-0 9, Lizzy King 6-12 1-3 15, Erika Ford 3-5 2-3 10, Sarah Schweitzer 3-5 0-0 6, Bailey Seiner 2-2 0-0 4, Caitlin McLuckie 0-2 0-0 0, Caleigh Henry 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-38 3-6 44.

Cranberry – 42

Kylie Mason 0-4 4-4 4, Sarah Lutz 4-7 0-0 9, Kirstin Neidich 2-8 0-0 6, Hannah Heeter 5-12 3-4 13, Erica Adams 1-3 0-0 2, Becca Gaston 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Hogue 3-9 2-4 8. Totals 15-43 9-12 42.

Three-pointers – South Fayette 7-14 (Uram 3-7, King 2-3, Ford 2-3, McLuckie 0-1). Cranberry 3-9 (Neidich 2-4, Lutz 1-3, Mason 0-2).